Dell rewards weekend shoppers with a MASSIVE discount on our favorite AI PC, but the deal ends in less than 24 hours

Dell XPS 14 (9440) for 2024
(Image credit: Daniel Rubino)
Recent updates

UPDATE (October 27, 2024): Dell dropped the price of its XPS 14 even further over the weekend, but only for a limited time. The compact and powerful laptop is now $550 off.

Dell's XPS 14 (9440) launched earlier this year as a replacement for the XPS 15, pushing the boundaries of Windows laptop design with its updated look. Beyond the lattice-free keyboard, seamless haptic touchpad, and premium materials that give it a futuristic look, it's considered an AI PC thanks to the Intel Core Ultra processor (CPU) with NPU.

The XPS lineup is easy to recommend to practically anyone save for the fact that the laptops don't usually come cheap. Prices typically start at about $1,500 and climb from there, so I'm always on the lookout for discounts. Luckily, Dell frequently chops the price of its most popular laptops; in this case, it has shaved off $550 (over a third of the price!) from the total, dropping it down to $949.99.

Dell XPS 14 (9440)Was: $1,499.99Now: $949.99 at Dell

Dell XPS 14 (9440)
Was: $1,499.99
Now:
$949.99 at Dell

Our experience: Windows Central review ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½

"With its compact size, beefy Intel H-series processor, NPU, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, the Dell XPS 14 packs a punch while looking like no other laptop on the market. Dell's new full HD webcam is also excellent, and the quad speakers and OLED touch display set the bar for other laptops. Battery life is its only weakness, and even that is better than expected."

Launch date: 2024

Features: Display: 14.5 inches, FHD+, 60Hz, 500 nits CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H GPU: Intel Arc (integrated) RAM: 16GB LPDDR5x Storage: 512GB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD AI PC: ☑️

See at: Dell.com

Perfect for: Anyone who prioritizes design and build quality over raw performance. You can add an NVIDIA RTX 4050 Laptop GPU to this discounted model and actually save $550 in total.

❌Avoid if: You prefer to stick with a more traditional keyboard and touchpad design. It's also not made for a life of gaming, and its NPU isn't powerful enough to run Copilot+.

💰Price check: $1,570 at Best Buy

🤔Alternative deal: $750 off XPS 16 with RTX 4060

🎃The best early Black Friday deals🦃

Dell XPS 14 (9440) review highlights — Why this laptop is so good

Dell XPS 14 (9440) for 2024Windows Central Best Award

The XPS 14 (9440) sits at the top of our favorite AI PCs in 2024. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

Coming in as one of our favorite AI PCs released this year isn't easy, yet the XPS 14 (9440) holds the title as the best 14-inch option out there. It might not have the most powerful Neural Processing Unit (NPU) on the market to handle Copilot+ tools, but for many people that won't matter in the face of everything else it perfects.

Windows Central Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino reviewed the XPS 14 (9440) shortly after its early 2024 launch, remarking:

"The Dell XPS 14 is my favorite laptop of 2024 so far. For years, I've noted in my reviews how 14-inch laptops are the sweet spot for most people, and because bezels have shrunk, they're now not much larger than 13-inch ones."

Even the laptop's drawbacks, including the average battery life, aren't major. Rubino continues:

"The only bad thing I can say is that battery life is not mindblowing, but it can be pretty good, too, or rather, it's much better than expected. It still trails Apple's MacBook line and likely Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite processors, but the former doesn't do Windows (and is a boring design)."

Despite a 4.5-star rating and a Windows Central Best Award, another drawback discovered while testing the laptop was a divisive design. To put it bluntly, you're either going to love it or hate it.

The XPS 14's entry into Dell's premium lineup brought the futuristic look and features that we first experienced in the Dell XPS 13 Plus. The lattice-free keyboard has minimal spacing between keycaps, the function buttons along the top are capacitive touch, and the haptic touchpad is hidden in a seamless glass palm rest. It makes for a beautiful machine, but those who often use function buttons might find the touch replacement annoying. In the same vein, it might take some time to figure out where the touchpad borders lie.

Looking at the rest of the PC, it has an excellent webcam with access to Windows Studio Effects, its quad speakers pump out quality audio, and even the more basic FHD+ display keeps your eyes happy.

As mentioned, the usual $1,500 starting price is relatively steep. But that's at least been easily remedied with the $550 discount that Dell is currently offering. This model includes Intel Arc graphics, but you can easily change that to an NVIDIA RTX 4050 Laptop GPU and still save $550.

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Cale Hunt
Contributor

Cale Hunt brings to Windows Central more than eight years of experience writing about laptops, PCs, accessories, games, and beyond. If it runs Windows or in some way complements the hardware, there’s a good chance he knows about it, has written about it, or is already busy testing it.